


walking with you (and i'm already home)

by kcc



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Everybody Lives, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Post-IT Chapter Two (2019), Richie has no fashion sense, richie big
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:34:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23486881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kcc/pseuds/kcc
Summary: Eddie and Richie go on a walk in the park and Eddie likes how Richie is Big.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 27
Kudos: 272





	walking with you (and i'm already home)

**Author's Note:**

> hi! i have no idea what this is, i wrote it in like three hours instead of doing my homework because i have no self control. this is probably shitty but oh well!
> 
> just a note, richie and eddie platonically u-hauled after the derry. it's not ever actually referenced, but i feel like i should mention it.
> 
> hit me up on twitter if you feel like it @richies_nips (one of these days i'll learn how to actually link things on here)
> 
> p.s. thank you sabi for the title!!
> 
> \- ken

It was the first  _ truly _ warm day of the year, so of course Richie dragged Eddie out of their stuffy apartment to go to the park. Eddie was trying to get some spring cleaning done and air out the place, but Richie was bouncing off the walls with excitement.

“Eds, come  _ on _ ! The sun is out, it’s like, sixty-five and I’m going to  _ die _ if you make me stay in here a minute longer!” Richie whined, lingering in the bathroom doorway where Eddie was scrubbing the toilet clean.

Eddie glared up at him and peeled off his rubber cleaning gloves. “First of all, don’t call me that, it’s not my name-” Richie grinned widely at him- “and secondly, if it will get you to calm down, then  _ fine _ . But only for an hour, I need to get the cleaning done.” Richie punched a fist into the air in victory before backing out of the doorway to let Eddie pass.

“Fuck yeah! We’re gonna see so many dogs, I can’t wait to pet them all.” Eddie rolled his eyes at his best friend, but a small smile crept up as he watched Richie practically sprint to the front door to put his shoes on.

  
  
  


They were walking side by side on the path in the park, Richie telling some wild story about a bar he and Stan went to the previous weekend and Eddie just listening to the sound of his voice. It was comforting and familiar, even when it was spewing utter bullshit.

“There is absolutely no way that you got Stan to do karaoke with you. I will never believe it until I hear it straight from his mouth,” Eddie shook his head.

“It’s true! I will call Staniel right now to-” Richie cut himself off. Eddie whipped his head to the right to see what happened and was greeted with the sight of Richie bending over to pet a small pug that was galloping along in front of its owner.

Richie was not a small person. In fact, Eddie was noticing more and more these days that he was Big. He was tall with impossibly broad shoulders and soft padding where it counted - Eddie found himself fantasizing about having Richie’s thick arms wrapped around him and how comfortable it would be to fall asleep on his chest.

All this to say that the small dog looked positively  _ tiny _ under Richie’s enormous hands. His hands that were treating it with such care and gentleness as he scratched behind the puppy’s ears and watched it’s tail wag excitedly. The sight of Eddie’s giant best friend hunching over to make himself seem smaller and less intimidating to this tiny puppy made Eddie’s heart squeeze painfully for reasons Eddie wasn’t sure he wanted to delve into at the moment.

Instead, he just watched as Richie made a new friend, the dog licking his hand excitedly and Richie smiling so widely at the small creature.

Eddie cleared his throat. “We should keep moving or you’re going to spend the whole hour petting dogs and complain when I make you go home after walking thirty fucking feet.” In truth, Eddie just wasn’t sure he could handle watching the scene in front of him and not jump Richie immediately.

Richie stood back up to his full height and flexed his shoulders, the pug returning to its owner with a happy little dance.

“I am  _ way _ too fucking old to be bent over like that, holy shit. I think I threw my back out,” Richie complained, rolling his shoulders.

“You didn’t throw your back out, you fuckin’ wuss. Now, come on. I’m boiling alive under the sun here,” Eddie replied, averting his gaze so he wasn’t just staring at Richie’s broad chest and marched on, forcing Richie to jog to catch up to him. They were coming up on a small seating area with a bench and a few rocks sticking up out of the ground.

“Hey, Eds! Slow down, you’re like a miniscule cheetah. How do your legs move that quickly?” Richie stopped in front of Eddie, breathing a little heavier than normal. “Shit, I should  _ not _ have smoked for twenty years, my lungs are shit now.”

Eddie just raised an eyebrow at him, watching as Richie panted and caught his breath.

“You’re a dipshit, Tozier. You should have listened in health class when they told you not to smoke, so you’re just asking to deal with the consequences now.” Eddie glared up at him. “It doesn’t just damage your lungs, smoking also leads to heart disease which is the number one cause of death in the United States, did you know that?” Eddie did a chopping motion with his right hand, punctuating his point.

Richie just beamed down at him.

“What is it, jackass? Why are you looking at me like that?” Eddie squinted in apprehension.

Richie shook his head. “No reason, I just forgot you did the whole-” he gestured at all of Eddie “you thing.”

“The fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing! Nothing! I just missed you. You haven’t been in my life for almost thirty years, I’m allowed to miss you,” Richie replied, his smile softening into something else, something so tender it caused Eddie’s heart to flutter in his chest.

Eddie had to look away. “Lets just go back to the apartment, I’m sweltering out here and I still have a ton of cleaning to do.”

Richie’s grin turned mischievous. “You should just take a page out of my book and wear these next time if you’re overheating!” He said it so gleefully before leaning down to his cargo pants and folding up a flap, revealing a zipper. Richie unzipped all the way around each leg before stepping out, what was once a pair of cargo pants reduced to cargo shorts.

“Ta-da! Zip away pants!”

Eddie looked up at Richie, his face completely neutral, Richie beaming like a child on Christmas. And suddenly, Eddie realized that that feeling he kept avoiding was  _ love _ . He actually  _ loved _ this complete dumbass who was so proud to show off his zip away pants, pants that were never even cool in the 90s. Eddie wanted to scream with how much he loved his best friend because  _ holy shit he could not keep this in _ .

Eddie took a step backwards, standing on top of one of the rocks by the bench.

“Is this some kind of Napoleon complex thing, Eds? Like you need to stand on a rock to be tall enough to yell at me?” Richie joked. Eddie just reached out, grabbing a fistful of Richie’s shirt and yanked him forward into a bruising kiss.

At first, Richie didn’t respond, so Eddie started to second-guess himself and pull away. Then Richie let out a strangled sound like a cross between a sob and a sigh before he reached up and wrapped his hand around the back of Eddie’s head and pulled him back in.

This time, their lips met more gently, a sweet, soft kiss, one that had been thirty years in the making. Eddie let go of Richie’s shirt, instead wrapping his arm around Richie’s shoulder, letting out an involuntary gasp when he got to  _ feel _ how broad they really were. Richie took that opportunity to reach his tongue out, lightly touching Eddie’s bottom lip as if he was nervous that Eddie would pull away.

Instead, Eddie answered by licking his way into Richie’s mouth, anxious to see what he tasted like. Eddie saw stars and thought  _ oh, so the movies were right _ and then  _ oh, wait I just haven’t breathed in a bit _ and gasped as he pulled away, trying to catch his breath. He looked at Richie, his mouth red and a little swollen, his eyes wide in shock.

“Eddie…?” Richie breathed out in question, looking a little apprehensive - like he didn’t want to get his hopes up just to get them crushed.

“I’m in love with you,” Eddie blurted out. Impossibly, Richie’s eyes widened even further. Realizing he was still standing on the rock, Eddie took a step down, Richie’s eyes following his movements as he stepped into his personal space again. “I love you, Richie. I think I’ve been in love with you since I was a kid and it’s okay if you don’t feel the same way, but I was driving myself crazy not saying it, so. Yeah.”

Eddie cleared his throat and turned to go back towards their apartment when a hand reached out and grabbed his upper arm, yanking him back. Richie’s arm snaked around his waist and tugged Eddie against his chest.

“Eds, I fell in love with you the minute I met you, when you saw me picking up a worm in the playground and lectured me on how dirty the ground is,” Richie said. His eyes were so soft and full of  _ love _ that Eddie was overwhelmed with it. Eddie grabbed the back of Richie’s neck, pulling him back down to kiss him again, their mouths slotting together perfectly, as if they were meant to be. They broke away after just a few moments, conscious of the fact that they were still in a public park.

“Also, you just kissed me for the first time because of my zip away pants, so I think we owe the 90s a thank you,” Richie grinned down at him and Eddie groaned, his forehead falling forward and landing on Richie’s soft chest.

“It was  _ not _ because of the pants, shut the fuck up. Those pants are atrocious and I hate that you even own them in the first place.”

“Just admit it, Eds. You have the hots for me because I’m fashionable.”

Eddie reached up again and Richie leaned down on instinct, expecting another kiss. Instead, Eddie pinched the skin on the back of his neck as hard as he could.

“ _ Ow! _ What the fuck?”

“You’re such a fucking asshole. I hate you,” Eddie said fondly, rubbing gently over the spot he pinched before pulling Richie back down for real this time, kissing him softly.

“I’m going to wear these pants everyday from now on, if it means you jump me in a public park,” Richie mumbled against Eddie’s mouth.

“I’m burning those pants as soon as we get home.”


End file.
